Griffith (Berserk)
Griffith is a fictional character of the anime and manga franchise Berserk by mangaka Kentaro Miura. He is the main antagonist of the story. Role Griffith is the founder and leader of the mercenary unit known as the Band of the Hawk. Extraordinarily charismatic, intelligent, and handsome, his skill with his rapier sword and tactics gives him and his band the reputation of invincibility, making him the favored choice of the Midland King, who was locked in a century long war with the Empire of Tudor. Griffith is willing to sacrifice everything for his dream of his own kingdom and believes that he is destined for things greater than the average man. After he won the war for Midland, he discovered Guts' intention to leave the Band of the Hawk. Intending to stop him from leaving or kill him altogether, Griffith decides to battle Guts a second time. However, he was instantly defeated when Guts broke his rapier, leaving him in disbelief and in turn crushing Griffith's morale. Later that night, Griffith went to Princess Charlotte's room and slept with her. The affair was discovered by a maid and later the Midland King, after which Griffith, unable to defend himself without his sword, arranged that he be captured by the king's guard. The king ordered that Griffith be imprisoned and tortured but kept alive. A year later, Griffith was rescued by Casca, Guts, Judeau, and Pippin, but he had already been physically crippled and mentally broken. After Wyald's attack and the further realization of his current state, Griffith attempts to flee the Hawks' camp, crashing his carriage into a lake. Guts comes to his aid, despite Griffith's unheard plea for him to stay away. The crimson Behelit is triggered, and the Eclipse begins. Griffith and the pursuing Hawks are drawn into another dimension, where the four members of the God Hand appear. They declare that Griffith has the opportunity to become one of them, if only he sacrifices the Hawks who followed him to the lake. Griffith decides that because Guts caused him to forget his dream, the sacrifice is justified, and he agrees to the God Hand's terms. He is given a new body with raven black wings and is renamed Femto. His first action is to viciously rape Casca in front of Guts. Guts and Casca are rescued by the Skull Knight before they can be killed. Two years later, the Incarnation Ceremony occurs at Albion, an event that happens once every thousand years, allowing a being from another dimension to transfer into a fleshly body, which is Casca and Guts' son's body. At the end of the ceremony, Griffith is reborn in a form similar to his original appearance. He now leads a newly formed Band of the Hawk and is still in pursuit of his dream to obtain a kingdom. This band's strongest members are a group of Apostles, but it also consists of humans, drawn to him as the original Hawks were. Griffith recently fended off an attack by invading Kushans at the city of Vritannis. Afterwards, Charlotte, elevated to the status of queen by the death of her father, acknowledged the Band of the Hawk as the official army of Midland. He has taken the Princess Charlotte as his fiance again effectively putting him in a high position of power with in the government. Characteristics Griffith can be seen as the exact opposite of Guts in just about every way. Griffith is of average height, thin, has long white hair, no scars and wields an elegant rapier. Guts is a tall, muscular warrior with short black hair, a body full of scars and wields a monstrous weapon. Griffith wears white armor and has a much more refined style resembling fencing. Guts wears tattered black clothing and, though incredibly skilled, fights like a barbarian; winning by any means necessary. In addition they usually have the exact opposite effect on everyone they meet. Most people are naturally drawn to Griffith upon first meeting him and would die for him without hesitation. Guts however is usually feared and detested by just about everyone he comes across. This extends to their morals and intentions as well. Guts usually refrains from involving others in his plights whereas Griffith rarely dirties his own hands. Guts (though he would never admit it) values the lives of others and strives to protect them while Griffith freely manipulates others caring only for his ultimate goal. Abilities Griffith is an exceptional swordsman, and a genius in strategy. He also has hand-to-hand combat skills as he was able to dislocate Guts' arm in a fight. He as Femto has shown the ability to fly and was able to destroy the bodies of several apostles with a gesture of his hand. Like all the members of the God Hand (the dark angels of 'God' who rules the Berserk universe), Griffith is immortal. He also seems to be immune to harm (stones and arrows aimed at him somehow magically miss) and is able to show visions to both humans and supernatural beings; he first used this ability to make people all over the world to dream of his coming and look up to him as their savior. He was also able to use it to hurt Nosferatu Zodd in the reality and for killing the King of Midland (although the physical deterioration of the King may have caused him to die because of the stress caused by the vision unlike Zodd who had one of his horns cut off) Griffith is able to summon the wind at will, but it is unknown if he can summon any other of the elements. However, as wizards are able to do it, it is likely that he can. Moreover, Griffith is a member of the God Hand he is very likely to be able to perform magic. People and apostles alike are drawn to Griffith by just looking at him; and if he talks or touches them the feeling can be overwhelming, causing men to actually cry with joy after hearing his voice. Griffith is also able to summon the spirits of the recently deceased and he seems to amplify the psychic abilities of Sonia. Whether he does this consciously or not, or if it could work with other psychics remains unknown. Category:Berserk characters Category:Demonic supervillains Category:Anime and manga characters who can fly Category:Anime and manga martial artists Category:Magic users in comics Category:Fictional swordsmen Category:Fictional commanders Category:Fictional mercenaries Category:Fictional demons Category:Fictional rapists Category:Fictional counts and countesses Category:Fictional mass murderers Category:Fictional wizards Category:Fictional necromancers Category:Fictional elementals Category:Fictional characters who can manipulate wind Category:1989 comics characters debuts